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Final Fantasy VIII is the eighth game in the Final Fantasy series by Square-Enix.

Overview

Final Fantasy VIII involves the members of a group of military academies for young children, who train teenagers to become first-class mercenaries. Squall Leonhart, the main character, is dealing with his new status as a SeeD mercenary, his rivalry with fellow student Seifer Almasy, and his new employer, Rinoa Heartilly, a young woman who challenges his individualistic philosophy. During Squall's first job as a mercenary, the nation that he is fighting sees the rise of a woman carrying an ancient power, and he finds himself in the middle of a conflict manipulated by a being outside of time, who wishes to destroy all existence. In the meantime, he and his friends discover secrets about themselves that they had all been forced to forget, and find out that they are closer than they had once received.

FFVIII was written about the theme of love - not necessarily romantic love, but romance does play a large part in the game's narrative[1].

Characters

Rinoa Heartilly: A young woman fighting for the independence of an occupied city, who turns out to be the daughter of one of the leaders of the nation occupying it. She is idealistic and determined, but also inexperienced. Some fans criticize her as being clingy and weak, and call the relationship between her and Squall poorly-developed.

Zell Dincht:

Quistis Trepe:

Selphie Tilmitt:

Irvine Kinneas:

Antagonists

Seifer Almasy:

Raijin:

Fujin:

Sorceress Edea:

Sorceress Adel:

Ultimecia: The main villain of the game, who is only mentioned very late in the game. Parts of the fandom criticize her sudden appearance, which was given little foreshadowing. Later appeared in Final Fantasy Dissidia.

Other Characters:

Laguna Loire:

Kiros Seagull:

Ward Zabac:

Raine Leonhart:

Ellone:

Pairings

Fans of FFVIII enjoy a very wide variety of pairings. The relationships listed below is not all-inclusive, which gives a good idea of just how much variety the fandom contains.

Conflicts

One of the major sources of debate in FFVIII fandom revolves around Rinoa. Some fans have complained about her character in the game, sometimes even expressing wishes that she could be excised from the game in some manner. These fans tend not to favor a Squall/Rinoa relationship; some of them support Squall/Quistis as an alternative, while others prefer Squall with Seifer, Zell and/or Irvine. Similar conflicts have risen about Squall, by people who say that he is an emotionless and badly-developed character whose feelings - particularly for Rinoa - seemed to arise from nowhere. Others argue that both of these interpretations ignore the fact that Squall and Rinoa are both teenagers who are dealing with their own emotional issues at the same time as a world-threatening danger, and that they also conveniently ignore choices or moments in the game where it is possible for both characters to display more emotional range than the writers are given credit for.

Fan Theories

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.